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Ben Elton, left-wing firebrand comedian from the 80s (The Young Ones, Blackadder, Friday Night Live) and successful novelist.

It's arguable that the players might not be able to perceive some of these things, but it's arguable that the characters might be able to. So sometimes it's exploring the "vibe" a character might pick up, one that the GM hasn't prepped for, that the player doesn't know is present. But the...

Wasn't my example, didn't present it. It was an anecdote @niklinna provided in response to my post. My examples might be: "Is there a chance this guard secretly sympathises with the rebels?" "Is there any chance this character is also homoseggshual and thus open to my attempts at flattery?" "Is...

I don't think vetted/approved by the GM is the gist of what I was aiming at. I think it's when both the players and GM honestly don't know/aren't sure. So the randomiser determines whether the addition happens.

For me the fundamental difference is that these old dead guys, whatever their politics (and Howard was starting to turn as he aged, he thought Lovecraft was "too racist", and Gygax did loads of cocaine, the drug that turns angels into badwords) they don't have a legion of online followers...

St Cuthbert finds his way into every fantasy game I run. So that's what I tell strangers. But really it's whatever evil diety is behind Kyuss and the Sons of Kyuss. Undead brainworms reanimating your corpse for a better tomorrow. That's my religion, fam.

Apropos of nothing, I've always thought there was some mileage in a game-setting-type-thing where D&D characters got dropped into a deep, immersive, realistic fantasy world and used their D&Disms to absolutely break reality. Like, all the NPCs were playing Rolemaster, but the PCs were using 5e...

Every game benefits from a little lube! Glad you understood what I'm getting at, and any given game's moments when the "tub of butter" comes out is a fine way of putting it!

Well, for quantum foam I really mean to use the technical term "awesomesauce", or perhaps "world lubricant", but that sounds odd. Don't call it that. I think what I mean is that there's sometimes a space in a game where the "authority structure" (whether that leans toward GM authority, or games...

My emphasis, obvs. I'm just chiming in that for me that's one of the most interesting spaces in RPG play. When it's not the players making things salient or manifesting things into existence, and it's outside the scope of GM prep and their immediate authority. I think that's where a lot of the...

Yeah, a little qualifying text does go a long way.

I think I'm getting my terms mixed up, because doesn't "Mother-May-I" refer to the need to have the GM approve of actions the characters can take, because the system in question doesn't codify abilities/moves they way many newer games do? I don't see how that overlaps with Map-and-Key, but I'm...

Does the dog die? is a question that should be added to every game.

Sure, but the "establishing facts" is also a kind of guesswork. But the guesses start with the phrasing "Would it work if..." or "Would it be cool if...". It's not like the players said "Right there's a big button on the side of that tree that makes us rulers of the map!". So there's still a...

I'm fine with designing/building a lot of the world, but I recognise that player input often improves on my ideas, or at least pushes them forward an iteration. Also, one person creating an entire world is a mammoth task and a little help goes a long way. So I leave lots of blank space and let...

Yes, I'd say that's accurate. They used Wises to establish a few of their own facts, and discern what the set-up was (and meta-game how that interacted with their core beliefs), and could then plan accordingly. In fact I'd hazard that in general we play Wises 50/50, though I have to remind them...

I've never run Traveller, so I'm looking forward to reading that thread. My players knew there was a stretch of haunted, lawless woodland. They knew it had a bad history and was ignored by the powers-that-be. So obviously, they decided they wanted it and new Beliefs were written to reflect...

The extreme polarisation that emerges out of the attempt to criticise RPGs is worthy of criticism in its own right. Any one game can do both. My Burning Wheel game is largely propelled by using the GM principles in the book. But sometimes it makes sense to make a map, and key it, and that...

I think that's the problem with trying to use any terminology when criticising ttRPGs. This is a hobby where two life-long friends can come to blows over how to pronounce the name of a particular kind of polearm. That people bristle and get ornery when they read into (rightly or wrongly) the...

Haha. Sealing the Breath is probably the earliest "magic" skill you learn. Though the most important skills lie in shutting down similar weak points on your body. Send $42 and a SAE and I will provide you with a 12" vinyl recording that will teach you the technique and initiate you into the...